S4 boost gauge

[JohnW]

Aparently one of the guys on the Seat or Golf mkIV forum made his own version of the OCT boost guage.
I'm trying to get details as it sounds like a fairly simple circuit.
If I do get hold of the info I'll post it up.

Cheers,
John.

[toasty]

I've made a boost gauge for mine, I'm going to fit the leds (red to match the dash) inside the drivers air vent.

They should only show when the boost gauge is on.

The circuit is simple, you just need a pressure transducer (I used a motorola piezo one rated at 1.8bar) and some form of bar graph driver.

I reckon mine has cost circa £30 and a couple hours to build.

I would have bought one if I could have seen one which fits nicely with the interior, but other than the OCT one (which I still think is a bit flash) most seem to look a bit bolt-on to me.

There is an article on Audiworld detailing how to build a bar graph boost gauge which the writere installed just above the steering column on his car. LED boost guage

[Nige_RS4]

I've been keeping an eye on this guy who is developing a digital boost gauge with peak hold etc.. Would be nice if it had the audi backlit colour and would fit in the cup holder location.

Nige.

[toasty]

He's the bloke I bought my transducer off of. He used to post on Audi sport.
Oh and I bought my OBDii cable from him too.

[Nige_RS4]

Oh and I bought my OBDii cable from him too

Same here, but it didn't fit. I had to trim some plastic off the connector that fits into socket on the car [img]images/graemlins/033102bad_1_prv.gif[/img] (mine is at the back of the center console). To be fair, he does mention that the S4 may have this problem. [img]images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

[wazza]

I believe he is making an appearance at the Essex meet tonight [img]images/graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

[Dippy]

Oh and I bought my OBDii cable from him too

Same here, but it didn't fit. I had to trim some plastic off the connector that fits into socket on the car [img]images/graemlins/033102bad_1_prv.gif[/img] (mine is at the back of the center console). To be fair, he does mention that the S4 may have this problem. [img]images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

Yes, I had the same problem with the one I bought from Ross-Tech, but then I got one from Ram which fits perfectly. Where is Ram these days anyway?

If you want my opinion (I'm sure you don't), think more about HOW you will look at the gauge rather than it's aesthetics. Try my test: Go for a drive and have a good blast. While you are accelerating hard, look at the place where you intend to mount the gauge. You need to look for about a second if you are actually going to be reading a value. How confortable does it feel doing this?

When I tried this test, looking down at anything at dashboard level made me feel very uncomfortable whilst hurtling down the road on full boost. I felt that I needed to be seeing the road with more than peripheral vision. That's why I have the HUD gauge. I can't pretend the aesthetics are good, but at least I can still use it safely.

[JohnW]

I like the look of that Gauge Dippy.
Give us a clue on where you got it from and for how much.
(I know it looks like a box stuck on the bottom of the screen, but imo it still looks better than the vent mounted one)

Cheers, [img]images/graemlins/beerchug.gif[/img]
John.

[Dippy]

See my previous post

To be honest I can't remember how much it was but certainly more than £100 but less than £200.

[Golich]

Where is Ram these days anyway?

Ram is over on www.Audi-sport.net where he has a VAG COM post section. I got my VAG COM lead from him for my S4 and it fitted perefctly. There's a good thread section there dedicated to VAG COM issues. [img]images/graemlins/clap.gif[/img]

[Nige_RS4]

Excellent site showing loads of options for boost gauge fitment options for the S4/RS4 ... and turbo timer fitments too !

[JohnW]

nice link, thanks.

I like the look of the greddy job that replaces the cup holder. Looks almost OE to me.

[Golich]

Yup that's the one I'd have [img]images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] , but I don't have a cup holder [img]images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[Nige_RS4]

I like the look of the greddy job that replaces the cup holder. Looks almost OE to me.

There is actually a small gap at the bottom which you can't see on the photo - here's a better one - still looks gook IMO anyway.

[Dippy]

But you don't really need 'visible' access to a turbo timer. I hardly ever change the settings on mine and of course I don't have to look at the display - the whole point of the timer! So IMO the best place to mount one is in the small 'pocket' in the lower dash on the RHS.